Selected Publications
Shipwrecks in the Western Caribbean: Between Narratives and Hurricanes
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William Gomez Pretel
Invited PoetInternationalFree Verse
Profile
William is an oceanographer and professor at Korea Maritime and Ocean University, with a lifelong passion for the ocean, both past and present. His connection with the sea has been shaped not only by academic research, but also by sailing and by a deep curiosity about the cultural and historical relationships between people and the sea.
Beyond his academic work, William enjoys writing poetry as a personal form of expression and reflection. He is particularly inspired by the poetry of Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca, as well as by other modern writers. He is also deeply attracted to the literary genre of magical realism, but also enjoys surrealist and experimental poetry, particularly poetry that embraces unexpected images, associations, ambiguity, and the playful disruption of conventional meaning. William enjoys nostalgic poetry mixed with maritime nuances, where the sea is represented almost as a living being, an ancient presence that has existed alongside human societies for generations. For him, poetry offers another way of observing the ocean: not only as a physical and scientific environment, but also as a space of memory, imagination, emotion, and human experience.
Beyond his academic work, William enjoys writing poetry as a personal form of expression and reflection. He is particularly inspired by the poetry of Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca, as well as by other modern writers. He is also deeply attracted to the literary genre of magical realism, but also enjoys surrealist and experimental poetry, particularly poetry that embraces unexpected images, associations, ambiguity, and the playful disruption of conventional meaning. William enjoys nostalgic poetry mixed with maritime nuances, where the sea is represented almost as a living being, an ancient presence that has existed alongside human societies for generations. For him, poetry offers another way of observing the ocean: not only as a physical and scientific environment, but also as a space of memory, imagination, emotion, and human experience.
View full profileExpand career, publications, editing, and literary activities on this page.
Representative Works (1)
Guest Work · Not entered in the official competition or awards.
Every time I sail, she goes,
and so it is with this love, like a wave of the sea.
But when may I see her again?
In Paris, as we did,
or in Seoul, as we don't,
or in Cartagena under the sea?
I see her farther away,
but the smell of her bay, it follows me:
a rotten algae, and
I think of the smell of her and the sea.
Here and there, a beautiful castle
standing into the sea,
like a Spanish barrel sunk to the ocean deep.
And I thought of you and the sea.
I was ten years old in a fishing boat,
but I already imagined you under the sea.
Her smell, fascinating me, the algae, the bay,
and hers, and the
sea’s.
Korean Translation
Every time I sail, she goes,
and so it is with this love, like a wave of the sea.
But when may I see her again?
In Paris, as we did,
or in Seoul, as we don't,
or in Cartagena under the sea?
I see her farther away,
but the smell of her bay, it follows me:
a rotten algae, and
I think of the smell of her and the sea.
Here and there, a beautiful castle
standing into the sea,
like a Spanish barrel sunk to the ocean deep.
And I thought of you and the sea.
I was ten years old in a fishing boat,
but I already imagined you under the sea.
Her smell, fascinating me, the algae, the bay,
and hers, and the
sea’s.
Japanese Translation
Every time I sail, she goes,
and so it is with this love, like a wave of the sea.
But when may I see her again?
In Paris, as we did,
or in Seoul, as we don't,
or in Cartagena under the sea?
I see her farther away,
but the smell of her bay, it follows me:
a rotten algae, and
I think of the smell of her and the sea.
Here and there, a beautiful castle
standing into the sea,
like a Spanish barrel sunk to the ocean deep.
And I thought of you and the sea.
I was ten years old in a fishing boat,
but I already imagined you under the sea.
Her smell, fascinating me, the algae, the bay,
and hers, and the
sea’s.
